This invention relates generally to firearms and more particularly to a mounting mechanism used to secure accessory apparatus to the firearm.
In recent years, there has been an increase in practice and options of temporarily attaching various ancillary devices to firearms; these devices are varied in purpose and function, but among the most popular are flashlights, light collimator and laser devices for illumination, target identification/designation and aiming.
There is an increasing popularity in the firearms industry, to incorporate attachment rails for such devices; either into new firearm designs, or by way of add-on accessories. The locations and specifics of these attachment rails has become too numerous to mention, but is best typified by the attachment rails located around the forward handguard of current U.S. military and law enforcement rifles. Consequently, there are numerous types of mounts designed to attach to these rail systems.
These mounts, which most often are designed to hold a commercial flashlight, or similar tube shaped device, are often bulky, designed for only one specific accessory, and tedious to adjust, install and remove. The attachment to either the firearm or flashlight is semi-permanent, for example: while there may exist a provision to expedite removal of the mount from the firearm, complete removal of the mount from the flashlight requires the use of tools; under normal use, this leaves the mount attached to the flashlight, hindering its proper use.
It is clear that there is a need for a simple to use and versatile mechanism to secure a variety of apparatus to a firearm.